Hillary Clinton’s Popularity Has Plunged Since Losing Election

Hillary Clinton, well over a year after she lost the 2016 election to President Trump, is less popular than ever, according to a poll released this week.

Only 27 percent of those polled had a very or somewhat positive view of the former secretary of state, according to The Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll. That makes her less popular than President Trump, whose popularity registered at 35 percent. It is a new low for her in the poll, which clocked her popularity at 30 percent in August 2017.

A Journal analysis of the poll notes that the poll is a reminder of “just how unusual” Clinton is in terms of her unpopularity — even among recent losing presidential nominees who have typically experienced a post-election decline, but not to the extent Clinton has. At the time of the election, 40 percent had a positive view of her.

While Clinton and Trump now both have similar levels of unpopularity (52 and 53 percent, respectively), her lower positive rating means Clinton’s favorability gap is wider. Trump, meanwhile, has faced a rocky first year as president overshadowed by constant controversies including a wide-ranging investigation by FBI Special Counsel Robert Mueller.